Miami Patches Up Rift With Naacp

September 25, 1999|By DOREEN HEMLOCK and LUISA YANEZ Staff Writers

Nine years ago, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People joined other civil-rights groups to urge black tourists to boycott Miami, after city leaders snubbed a historic visit by South Africa's anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Today, the most influential black group in the United States is recommending Miami Beach as the site for its 2003 national convention, a weeklong event expected to attract more than 10,000 people.

The NAACP board of directors is expected to ratify the proposal from the group's site selection committee at a meeting in mid-October, tourism officials said on Friday.

"This is a tremendous success story which speaks volumes about what the community has done to overcome the 1990 African-American boycott issues," said William D. Talbert III, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We couldn't have done it without the commitment of our industry partners and the local branch of the NAACP."

The convention bid follows Miami-Dade County's adoption of a 20-point program to boost the role of blacks in business and overcome boycott objections.

Top on the program was building a convention hotel, owned by African-Americans, on Miami Beach. Construction is under way on Collins Avenue on a $64 million, 422-room hotel, a venture by black developer R. Donahue Peebles. Some NAACP delegates in 2003 are expected to stay at that hotel.

Since Miami-Dade adopted the program, other civil-rights groups have returned to Miami-Dade for meetings, but not the NAACP -- until now.

"This is significant because we were the last holdout," said Adora Obi-Nweze, president of NAACP's Miami branch. "We're not saying everything is forgiven, but great strides have been made.''

Obi-Nweze was among the boycott leaders after Miami's Cuban-American city officials slighted Mandela because of his ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro. Yet earlier this year, she worked with Miami-Dade officials to lure the 2003 convention to Miami Beach.

T. Willard Fair, president of the Urban League of Greater Miami, praised Ob-Nweze's work in bringing the NAACP and its business to South Florida.

"It shows that the local NAACP branch has some political power in the national organization," Fair said.

Florida's NAACP branches will hold a smaller convention next month at the Wyndham Hotel in downtown Miami. Some 300 delegates are expected at the Oct. 7-9 event.

The state chapter had avoided meetings in Miami since 1980, when the county was rocked by racial rioting.

Tourism and civil-rights leaders point to significant progress to encourage African-Americans in the travel industry since the end of the 33-month, black-led boycott in 1993.

Miami Beach, for example, gave incentives for Peebles' Royal Palm Crowne Hotel now under construction. The hotel also has committed to hiring minorities for half of its staff and at least a quarter of senior management.

In addition, the county helped create a Visitor Industry Council scholarship fund, which so far has awarded more 115 scholarships to African-Americans studying hospitality management at Florida International University.

To pitch Miami as a convention site, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas took part in a presentation during the NAACP's convention this year in New York City. Penelas had directly pushed for only one other event: the Super Bowl, said the convention bureau's Talbert.

Tourism officials predict that the NAACP annual convention, slated for July 11-17, 2003, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, would generate an economic impact of $6.1 million in the Miami area.

Said Talbert: "This is one of the most important conventions we've booked in a long time."

Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.